And then this happened…

If you aren’t already familiar with TasteTalks make yourself familiar. It’s an amazing food site with tons of content that encompasses all of what the food world has to offer, from signature foods to weird foods from culinary masters to up and coming chefs to recipes and articles with cultural and historical context. They had their first TasteTalks awards at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and I was blessed to receive their first Culinary Pioneer Award! The incomparable Phoebe Robinson of 2 Dope Queens and SooooMany White Guys interviewed me on stage and we had a blast.

Taste Talks Culinary Pioneer Award

The Taste Talks Culinary Pioneer Award honors an up and coming leader in the food world — someone that embodies the Taste Talks Food & Drink Awards values of culture, diversity and innovation.

2016 CULINARY PIONEER AWARD RECIPIENT

Michael Twitty is a culinary historian, historic interpreter, and food writer who aims to discover and bring to life the foods of his ancestors–enslaved African Americans in colonial and antebellum America. Michael’s research and interests also range into the wider African Diaspora, continental African food traditions, Jewish foodways, and heirloom and heritage breed foods and wild edible resources. As a growing champion of local eating in both the African American and Jewish communities, he actively reaches out to help all generations share the traditional knowledge that weaves beautifully with the the sustainable, eco-friendly principles of the locovore movement. Through writing, teaching, and cooking, he dreams of sitting all of us down at the “welcome table.”

I am ever ever ever so grateful

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Time for a plug: We have a 500$ a season budget, which isn’t really enough to cover Dropbox and website and subscription costs, and costs for supplies and unexpected travel. We use this money to support and hire partners who do writing, art and research for the site. We buy books for the office library, we make coprs, do mailings, We are trying to close the deal. We have received a nice chunk of donations for this fall, but we still have a long way to go to meet our goal and hopefully exceed it.

In a time when people seem to thrive on celebrating the breakdown of civility and lack of respect for diversity, Afroculinaria wants sanity and unity. I use food to reunite us and to heal our wounds. We need your help to continue our mission. We do these drives to make sure we are at the ready to support the work of others in the field and being a beacon of light for those who need to be inspired and encouraged.

Please see our PayPal donate button on our full site page and donate what your budget and heart will allow. Or go on PayPal and send what you can to koshersoul@gmail.com. We are the only blog of our kind working towards healing, reconciliation, historical accuracy and heritage empowerment.

WHRO Curate 757 Season 2, Ep. 7

The culinary arts are one of the most enjoyable art forms around because food can be enjoyed with all five senses. This week, as we explore art that reflects culture, we will talk with Williamsburg culinary historian and author Michael Twitty who has made it his mission to document African American food history. #Curate757